Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Hilarious Moonie Times Headline

Rev. Moon may be dead but the newspaper he owned, and his family continues to own, is keeping up its drumbeat of dishonesty in the service of right wing authoritarianism. Take a look at the headline on this article about Richard Mourdock’s idiotic claim that rape babies are God’s will and compare it to the headline on the video they’re showing:

Yes, he “apologized” for the statements he’s standing by. In fact, he didn’t apologize at all. He said, “If anyone came away with that, then I apologize that they were able to make that interpretation from my less than fully articulate use of words.” So he’s sorry that you misinterpreted him, but he stands by what he said.

And here he is from Wednesday saying he only apologizes for the misconceptions of others but he can’t apologize for what he said because he “spoke from the heart.”

Comments

[Richard Mourdouck] and the God he worships abhor violence while adding that he is a “much more humble person” today.
[emphasis mine – MH]

It’s difficult if not impossible to conceive of a more violent entity than the god of the Bible. Not because of the past violence done by humans in his name, but more importantly, because of the biblical threat of eternal suffering for those that don’t slavishly submit to the dogma of conservative Christianity. How do you top infinite violence on your own creation?

Richard Mourdouck reveals himself to be a standard-issue conservative Christian. He avoids passages from his own holy dogma when it’s convenient to do so like we see here when he avoids the promise of eternal damnation on God’s own creation; he’s just another incoherent liar.

So we continue to see more Republican leaders who aren’t merely pandering to conservative Christians, but instead are conservative Christians, with all the attendant baggage of conservative Christianity that causes so much human suffering.

Funny how so many people, when others get upset about what they say, simply claim that they were misunderstood and that if the offended person could just wrap their little pea brains around what they were saying they would agree and be perfectly happy with the statement. Some people just can’t fathom that other people might perfectly understand what they say and yet still disagree with them.

Some people just can’t fathom that other people might perfectly understand what they say and yet still disagree with them.

I perceive a very different phenomena usually occurring when we observe this and similar behavior. That the asshole being criticized has no cogent rebuttal to the condemnation they’re receiving while remaining committed to their indefensible position.

Stage 2 of such denials is often followed by false claims by the asshole and his or her allies that the asshole’s speech rights are threatened. Precisely because they can’t defend their position and therefore advocate their critics shut-up.

People who possess this defect in thinking are also prone to increasing their commitment to their original position when confronted by compelling or convincing arguments they’re wrong. So such events increase the volume of their character failures. This helps explain why we see conservative Christianity and the GOP descending ever-further into lunacy and bad behavior; which in turn opens the door to even crazier conservative Christians becoming leaders. We now observe an amplifying feedback effect within the GOP; the price it, the country, and the world now suffers for Republicans attracting conservative Christians to its party.

I’ve noticed a trend with these “I’m sorry for anyone who misunderstood me” notpologies. They hardly ever say why the “misunderstanding was incorrect. He says his god hates violence, but that was never the issue. People objected to him saying that god wanted the woman to get pregnant and that part he is totally standing by.
In essence, it is “I APOLOGISE for the straw man version of why people are offended but stand by what I actually said”

So, Mourdock, you’re telling me that you deity “abhors” rape and violence, yet he “intends” for byproducts of that rape and violence to come into existence that would otherwise not have occurred if that assault didn’t happen in the first place. God intends for a woman to have children sired by rape but he didn’t intend that woman to be raped? You don’t see a flaw with your argument?

Being in Indiana (the Mississippi of the North) myself, I’ve been subject to ads for this moron almost 24/7.

He did “apologise” for his comments, he pretty much said “I’m sorry that you people are intelligent, rational people who are based in Reality. But I stand with Gawd, and my Gawd is a mighty Gawd and will see me elected so I can inflict His Will (as I interpret it) on you all!”

Interesting that my local garbage wrapper, who can tell you just what the inside of the state GOP’s underwear (magic or not) looks like, endorsed the usual band of thieves, (RMony, Pence, the local Repubbies…) but failed to endorse Mourdock, throwing behind Joe Donnelly instead.
Oh, and Sheila Klinker, too, but she’s like your favourite aunt, and nobody, not even the most rabid Teabagger holds that against you.

Mourdock, like all theists, is caught between a rock and a hard place. In real life, you proceed on the view that there are good things and bad things and you fight against the bad things.

But on the meta-level of theology and spirituality, ALL things happen for a reason — a good reason. Everything is part of a plan, including bad things which turn out to be necessary for good things. From this perspective, you accept bad things gratefully, knowing that it all happened so that you may grow.

You’ve got a real problem now when you try to reconcile that Higher Understanding with the day-to-day reasonable common sense you use in the world. Is rape bad or good? The first; the second; both. Is unintended pregnancy bad or good? The first; the second; both. Choose which one you need. And be sure you make sure that your special Higher Understanding guides you.

It’s not just fundamentalist Christianity which is stuck with this conflict. It pretty much comes into play every time you have a religion or spiritual belief in a Cosmos arranged along moral lines, with purpose and progress structured in to everything that exists and everything that happens. Which means all of them.

Is Murdock really going to come out and say that God’s will gets thwarted in the Big Picture? He evoked the Big Picture. Now he’s stuck.

So, if I were to believe Mourdock, he doesn’t believe that God approves of rape, but He does cause babies to be made through rape. If that’s so, then Mourdock’s God must be a real bastard to use something even He finds abhorrent to cause babies to be born.

Exactly — such is the dilemma of “sophisticated” theology. The bottom line is “thy will, oh God, not mine.” The one unforgivable evil, in the religious viewpoint, is when mere human beings apply their own intelligence and take action to thwart or mitigate an unwanted real-world eventuality, even (or perhaps especially?) if that eventuality was triggered by the thoughtless or selfish actions of other people. That’s God’s job. To take moral action to derail God’s greater plan for humanity is blasphemous.

Now, apply that “moral” formula to global warming, and you see why loosing Florida is inevitable.

Been meaning to mention this: I live in Indiana so when I look at any blog posts from FTB on my phone I’ve been getting ads for Mourdock’s campaign for the last month or so. Talk about not knowing your audience.

I’m waiting for heddle to give us his wisdom on this theological point: everything that happens is God’s will (he’s omniscient and omnipotent, so he knows it’s going to happen and could prevent it), so why doesn’t that make him an evil scumbag for willing rape (and even worse)?

But, people, it’s obvious : God hates rape, but when it happens, he makes the best of it, and gives his gift of life. Or, in biblical times, he makes the rapist marry the victim, so she gets a mate. God is so good to rape victims; you’re just looking at it the wrong way! </barf>